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Monday, February 11, 2013

Reading Slumps and Life Changes

I am not reading.

Not really. Like 15 minutes here and there really isn't READING. So here's the sitch...

Work ate my brain. It's busy, but not ridiculous. But I still find myself preoccupied.

Potty training ate my brain. Greyson is back to full-on potty training including leaving puddles all over the house. He's also decided he wants to sit somewhere *on* me at night now instead of allowing me time to read. I enjoy the snuggles, though, so no real complaints.

My 30s ate my brain. I am just like my mom was in her 30s. My days "off" are consumed with cleaning, organizing, errands, house fixer-uppery, which y'all already know. So, yeah. That continues.

Health ate my brain. I fell off my good eating wagon for a week or two. This is due in large part to a lack of weekend planning on my part. If I don't plan/cook on the weekends, our weekday food is crap.

I need one very noticeable thing. A book to jump-start my mojo.

These are in the running.

I'm also coming up on my 8-year blogiversary. All that means is that I've been blogging a long dang time and it's inevitable that we go through changes. I foresee this blog becoming much more varied in its content: more weight loss, more real food, more gardening, more mom stuff, more decor, more books! Books aren't going anywhere. But the truth of the matter is that there are a lot of things I care about besides books. I potty train a lot more than I read. I grade papers far more than I read. I write press releases more than I read. I tend to my house and my son far more than I read.

It's only fair that I take some pressure off of myself and blog about what keeps me excited about blogging.

In short, anything I want.

So I guess this is just a quick heads up that if you're only interested in books, the content you'll find interesting here will most likely be more spread out. Until I started reading faster, that is! I hope most of you will stay for the ride. I've always been interested in staying connected with my online pals here, but I'm also concerned with staying true to myself and letting the blog be a continual reflection of my life and interests.

Write about whatever you dang well please! :) I'd say many of us come here to spend virtual time with you, Andi, and I enjoy your personal posts just as much as your bookish ones!

I can definitely appreciate having way more on your brain lately than books, which is absolutely the case for me... I'm making an active effort to not turn my blog into all wedding planning, all the time, because I know how annoying that is! But, you know... it's pretty much part-time job right now, and it's hard to ignore.

I agree with Meg. I love your book reviews but also love seeing what you're up to. I'm not getting much reading done these days either - I feel like I'm doing 20 things at once and not doing any of them very well.

Good for you! You should talk about exactly whatever you feel like all the time. That said, I am a strong proponent of anyone reading The Knife of Never Letting Go, with the caveat that if you go into it expecting it to be the greatest book ever of all time, you'll be disappointed. It's good and it's really absorbing, but it has flaws and some of the things that will develop magnificently over the course of the three books doesn't quite get there in the first one. So just be aware. I want you to love it! That's why I say these cautionary things about it.

I agree with Meg et. al -- write what you want! It's fun to see people write about other things they care about. I've been either feast or famine with reading -- only like 15 minutes one day, then an entire book another day. I want to get back to the middle, somehow.

I hear ya, Kim. I was stuck at the car dealership yesterday afternoon with several empty hours on my hands, and I got absolutely sucked into HOW TO BE A WOMAN and polished it off. Here's hoping I can get sucked into another book soon. I've been dipping in and out of Corsets & Clockwork and having good luck with it.

Oh Andi you remind me so much of myself right now, lol..aside from potty training a toddler that is, lol..thankfully I don't have to deal with that :p But know that we're not going anywhere! At least I'm not…ESPECIALLY if you're going to be blogging about gardening :p

I (and my blog) went through the same changes... Though I end up blogging about books a lot anyway, but it's nice to write about anything I feel like writing about that day. Parenting, healthy eating, weight loss are all things I'm interested in too, I look forward to reading your new content!

You've got a lot on your plate right now, Andi. Reading will always be there. I'm sure something is going to grab you by the nose hairs any day now!

Congrats, in advance, on your blogiversary. 8 years is quite an achievement!! I'm anxious to see what you have in store for the old blog. I love all the family pictures, healthy eating updates, gardening, as well as book news. Bring it on! :)

Please know this: you look better now than you will ever look again. No one tells you this, but it's really true. And you are too busy to really appreciate it! But later on, you're going to look at those pictures of yourself in your 30s and be like: I was a babe! And you're going to look at Greyson and not even remember one thing about potty training. Other than it worked, somehow. Unless he is 11 and still wearing diapers. But somehow I doubt this. But write it all down now so you can laugh at everything later ;)

"I potty train more than I read" - holla, sister. Here, too. I'm also struggling ever since I finished a few really absorbing reads to find something that catches me. It goes without saying I am looking forward to anything you have to write, and you are such a great writer that I am glad you are expanding your topics! i wouldn't be doing the January Cure if it wasn't for you!

It's funny, of the 'book bloggers' I connect with and chat with the most it's the 'other stuff' and the glimpses into our lives beyond books that helps us to really get to know each other. Books may have brought us together but they're only part of what makes us friends.